Greetings --
With a second-hand computer, particularly one acquired from a
complete stranger via eBay, your wisest course of action would
probably be to format the hard drive and start fresh. You don't want
to get in trouble because the original owner may have filled the with
kiddie porn, or have problems because the original owner
downloaded/installed viruses or other malware. Some unscrupulous
people could even sell a used computer preconfigured with the
necessary key-loggers and spyware to collect your personal information
for future use.
However, to fix the "Registered to" information for WinNT/2K/XP,
you can
use Start > Run > Regedit.exe to edit:
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current Version\RegisteredOwner
and:
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current
Version\RegisteredOrganization
How this will affect the name displayed in previously installed
applications will vary depending upon each individual program; some
read the registered owner information dynamically, while others read
it only during installation.
The C:\Documents and Settings\Username folders _cannot_ be
renamed, even if the associated user account has been. So, your best
course of action would be to log on using the built-in Administrator
account, create a new user account, with the username desired. You
can then delete the old user account(s).
HOW TO Create and Configure User Accounts in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;279783
How to Copy User Data to a New User Profile
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;811151
Bruce Chambers
--
Help us help you:
You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH
